I read in the LSJ.com that Lansing will getting a new airline with low fares to Orlando, and with more flights possible in the future. It is a new airline called Avelo Airlines. It was noted that hundreds of passengers from Lansing have Orlando as their destination via one or two stops. It sounds like a good plan.
That is good news for Lansing's airport; hopefully this new service can last. Kalamazoo is also getting Orlando flights through Avelo Airlines. Granted on different days-of-the-week than Lansing. I think the competition from Grand Rapids, Flint, Detroit, South Bend, now Kalamazoo all having Orlando flights is going to limit the potential growth of Lansing's service. One benefit of Avelo is that it flies in to Orlando International (closer to downtown, Universal, Disney, etc.) rather than Sanford Airport (in the case of Allegiant Air from Grand Rapids/Flint). Lansing has not had great success with Orlando flights in the recent past. Both Grand Rapids and later Flint's Allegiant flights originally came from (departed) Lansing. It will be important for the community to become aware of, and support, the Avelo Lansing flights if they are to last.
From MLive:
Regular service between Lansing and Orlando begins on Thursday, Oct. 27 and service between Kalamazoo and Orlando begins on Friday, Oct. 28. Customers can make reservations at AveloAir.com.
Flights will depart from AZO at 8:50 p.m. on Mondays and Fridays, arriving in Orlando at 11:20 p.m. Flights into Kalamazoo will depart Orlando at 5:25 p.m. and arrive in Kalamazoo at 8:05 p.m.
Flights out of Lansing depart at 8:50 p.m. Thursdays and Sundays, arriving in Orlando at 11:30 p.m. Flights into Lansing will depart Orlando at 5:20 p.m. on those days and arrive in Lansing at 8:05 p.m.
Yes, I have a lot of family living in FLA:{ so I know that Stanford is at least is a good distance northeast of the major attractions. The highways are always packed, and they are scary [to me] and huge, so the drive could make a long and unpleasant start to your vacation. Of course, they could have some sort of transit from there but Orlando International is the way to go. Amtrak stops even closer to the parks right downtown Winter Park, and Orlando. This I am sure a lot of people know, so maybe the flight out of Lansing will be popular.
That's nice to hear. I either hadn't noticed or forgot there was no sidewalk access for the airport, I imagine this will just be a standard sidewalk along Capitol City Blvd. In my hypothetical trail plan I envision a shared use path travelling next to the RR tracks then turning south along the drain through Horsebrook Park then across Grand River and to the future NW trail extension. I would like to see something like that as well someday.
That's welcome news. The airport authority now says on their website that they expect the new master plan to be released in early 2025 so perhaps we'll get some idea as to the scale and expected cost of a new terminal then. https://www.flylansing.com/business/master-plan
In that last master plan it called for moving the terminal north of the existing main runway off of Dewitt Rd in anticipation of a new larger main runway running parallel to the north with the terminal being in between which would require eliminating State Rd and moving Dewitt Rd again. I think the airport already owns most of the land they need to do this so I kind of expect the plan to stick, or at least something similar.
The airport's current terminal is borderline an embarrassment, I hope they can actually pull off getting a new one built in the not-too-distant future.
I have found the terminal very dark, like are they trying to save money on lighting? There are several car dealerships that have terminal-like buildings, if they can build dealerships like that, it seems like we could build a new well-lit building that looks like we are proud of our city.
Comments
From MLive:
https://www.flylansing.com/business/master-plan
In that last master plan it called for moving the terminal north of the existing main runway off of Dewitt Rd in anticipation of a new larger main runway running parallel to the north with the terminal being in between which would require eliminating State Rd and moving Dewitt Rd again. I think the airport already owns most of the land they need to do this so I kind of expect the plan to stick, or at least something similar.
The airport's current terminal is borderline an embarrassment, I hope they can actually pull off getting a new one built in the not-too-distant future.
It really is. I describe it to out-of-towners as a glorfied bus station.
https://usatoday.com/story/money/2024/04/02/ups-primary-air-cargo-provider-usps-fedex-contract-expires/73175940007/